VANCOUVER — RCMP have shot and killed a former security guard who may have a connection to a double murder and who is accused of shooting his landlord Tuesday night in Burnaby, police confirm.

On Wednesday afternoon, RCMP were at the scene in Ridge Meadows east of Vancouver where Angus David Mitchell, 26, was shot and airlifted to hospital shortly before noon. He was later pronounced dead at hospital.

Police tracked down Mitchell after someone called 911 to say they saw a 1994 green Ford Aerostar van, which police had earlier said Mitchell was living in.

More than a dozen RCMP officers approached the green van on the isolated road around 11:50 a.m. and tried to talk Mitchell out of the van. He did exit the van but there was an exchange of gunfire with police.

Supt. Dave Walsh said the suspect was shot shortly before noon; he would not release more details about the shooting, which is now under investigation by Vancouver police.

No RCMP officers were injured.

Earlier, Insp. Tim Shields said Mitchell was believed to be armed with a rifle with a scope and was believed to be “emotionally unstable and unpredictable.” He sent out an urgent alert on Wednesday morning, saying anyone who knows Mitchell and has had a conflict with him in the past needed to be “extremely cautious about their personal safety,” including former co-workers, employers, landlords and roommates.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Mitchell is wanted in connection with the attempted murder of a 51-year-old Burnaby man who was shot Tuesday night in front of his home in Burnaby.

The victim, Mitchell’s former landlord, survived the shooting but is in hospital in serious condition.

Mitchell was also a person of interest in the double homicide that occurred Sunday inside a sushi restaurant in Burnaby.

Police do not yet have a motive for those homicides.

At a news conference in Burnaby earlier Wednesday, Shields said people throughout the Lower Mainland should be on the lookout for Mitchell. Shields warned the public not to approach him if he was spotted and instead call 911.

Shields also said Mitchell was the legal owner of the hunting rifle he had with him and it appears to have been purchased in B.C. within the last six months.

Sgt. Jennifer Pound of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said it was too early to say if Mitchell’s rifle was the weapon used in Tuesday’s shooting.

The man injured was shot at close range, rather than from a distance, she said.

On his Facebook page, Mitchell posted a disturbing rant about colleagues at the Victoria-based Themis Security Services, calling one an “insignificant lowly little punk who masquerades as a successful person.”

He complains of not being paid on time and lashes out at someone for being “a little f—ing bastard who pushes around his weight applying pressure points on people.”

He goes on to write that the person, who he identifies as “Mirko,” does not deserve his attention and ends the rant with “f— you bastard.”

Mirko Filipovic, CEO and president of Victoria’s Themis Security Services said Wednesday morning he was on route to meet with the Victoria Police.

“We’ve been told we should take certain safety and security precautions for ourselves and our family,” he said in a phone interview.

Filipovic said Mitchell worked for his company as a contractor about three times. He said the most recent job was about four weeks ago.

Filipovic added he had not read Mitchell’s comments on Facebook and was not aware of any issue between Mitchell and the company.

“We’re kind of surprised and caught off guard by the whole thing,” he said.

At the crime scene in Burnaby Wednesday, a witness to Tuesday’s shooting described hearing what sounded like a car backfiring as he was trimming the lawn in the late afternoon.

Howard Wong, who lives across the street from the victim on Gilpin Crescent, ran across the quiet residential street and found his neighbour — a man who speaks Mandarin — covered in blood and lying under a tree in his front yard.

“I heard two sounds, like ‘bang, bang.’ Two big noises,” the man recalled.

“I saw the guy lying down under the tree there. I came over there and said, ‘You got hurt?’ He said, ‘Somebody shot me. A double shot.’”

He said he did not see anyone running or driving away from his neighbour’s house after the shooting.

The witness said he saw a young white man resembling Mitchell’s photo coming and going from the red split-level home every day for the past several weeks.

Residents on Vancouver Island were also warned about the accused shooter on Wednesday.

Const. Mike Russell of the Victoria Police Department said Mitchell used to live on Vancouver Island, and that officers were warning “several” people about him.

“We’re looking at anybody that may have had conflict with this man and just assisting them in any way that we can,” he said, not giving details about what protective measures police might be taking.

Meanwhile, police are still investigating last week’s double homicides at the sushi restaurant in Burnaby.

The owner of the tiny restaurant was gunned down Sunday night, along with a female employee inside the business at the time. Huong (Andy) Tran and the woman were found by police shortly after 9:30 p.m. inside Tran’s Royal Oak Sushi House restaurant.

Neither Tran nor the woman have any criminal record or were known to police.

It is too early to say whether Mitchell is a suspect in the double homicide at the sushi restaurant, said Pound, who would only say that Mitchell was a person of interest in connection with that case.

“We need to have forensic evidence to identify anyone as a suspect,” she said, adding that such information is not typically available two days after a shooting.

She was not able to identify the female victim of that shooting.

Pound said the two victims appear to have been targeted, though the murder is not believed to be gang-related.

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